ICE consists of three directorates to accomplish the agency’s mission, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Management and Administration (M&A).

ICE executes its mission through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes, and focuses on smart immigration enforcement, preventing terrorism and combating the illegal movement of people and trade. (read more)

Learn more about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including facts about investigations, immigration enforcement and removal operations, and management and administration information. (read more)

To ensure openness and transparency and to better serve those seeking more information about ICE and its operations, the agency centralized processing of all ICE-related Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in a single office.

Homeland Security Investigations

HSI – A Diverse, Global Force

HSI is a critical investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security and is a vital U.S. asset in combating criminal organizations illegally exploiting America's travel, trade, financial and immigration systems.

HSI’s workforce includes special agents, analysts, auditors and support staff. Its men and women are assigned to cities throughout the United States and to offices around the world. HSI’s international force is the department’s largest investigative presence abroad and gives HSI one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

HSI has broad legal authority to enforce a diverse array of federal statutes. It uses this authority to investigate all types of cross-border criminal activity, including:

Financial crimes, money laundering and bulk cash smuggling;

Commercial fraud and intellectual property theft;

Cybercrimes;

Human rights violations;

Human smuggling and trafficking;

Immigration, document and benefit fraud;

Narcotics and weapons smuggling/trafficking;

Transnational gang activity;

Export enforcement; and,

International art and antiquity theft.

The threats presented by criminals in these areas have far-reaching consequences. In response, HSI uses a versatile approach to conducting its operations so that it can achieve the best results for the nation and its people.

Forging a New Legacy

When Homeland Security Investigations was formed, ICE's goal was to combat criminal threats facing the United States with a law enforcement force that would be recognized worldwide for its expertise and effectiveness.

Years later, HSI can lay claim to achieving this ambitious goal. HSI's successes in combating terrorism and enhancing national security have resonated throughout the global law enforcement community, private industry and general public.

In HSI's first full year in existence, its criminal investigations increased in nearly every area to ICE's prior three-year average. Criminal arrests rose by almost 30 percent; indictments by nearly 18 percent; search warrants by almost 60 percent; seizures of illicit drugs by more than 40 percent; intellectual property rights seizures by 128 percent; and weapons and ammunition seizures by a staggering 762 percent. This standard of excellence has continued ever since, with HSI's dedicated workforce affecting global change and disrupting and dismantling criminal organizations.

Today, HSI carries out its mission in an increasingly complex world that poses immense technical challenges to America's homeland security. The task is daunting, but HSI has risen to the challenge with intelligence, flexibility and commitment to excellence. Indeed, HSI has proven that it will continue to achieve the goal that has become its motto – to forge a new legacy of honor, service and integrity.

Peter Edge

Executive Associate Director, Homeland Security Investigations

Peter T. Edge is the executive associate director of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE is the largest investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). HSI consists of more than 10,000 employees, consisting of 6,700 special agents, who are assigned to more than 200 cities throughout the U.S. and 48 countries around the world. As the director, Mr. Edge has direct oversight of ICE's investigative and enforcement initiatives and operations targeting cross-border criminal organizations that exploit America's legitimate travel, trade, financial and immigration systems for their illicit purposes. This includes the investigation of financial crimes; bulk cash smuggling; narcotics smuggling and trafficking; human smuggling and trafficking; commercial trade, fraud and intellectual property right crimes; cyber crimes and the exploitation of children; immigration and document and benefit fraud; human rights violators; transnational gang activity; and weapons smuggling and export enforcement. To accomplish this mission, Mr. Edge administers a budget of more than $2 billion and is responsible for strategic planning, national policy implementation and the development and execution of all operational initiatives.

Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Edge served as the deputy associate director for HSI, ICE, Washington, D.C.; and before that, Mr. Edge served as the special agent in charge in the HSI Newark office. He supervised a cadre of special agents responsible for investigating and enforcing more than 400 customs and immigration laws, including narcotics, financial and trade, gang, intellectual property rights, human smuggling and child pornography investigations.

During the transition to the Obama administration, Mr. Edge served as the acting director of the Office of Congressional Relations at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he served as acting deputy special agent in charge of the New York HSI office, where he was responsible for more than 400 ICE personnel and six assistant special agents in charge. Edge also oversaw the El Dorado Task Force and the New York High Intensity Financial Crimes Area in New York. Previously, he served as the assistant special agent in charge of the Immigration Division and acting deputy special agent in charge at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport while in New York.

At JFK International Airport, he supervised internal conspiracy investigations, as well as financial and trade investigations. Prior to being assigned to the New York office in 2005, Mr. Edge served as a national program manager and Department of Defense liaison in the Strategic Investigations Division at ICE headquarters. He was also assigned as a congressional fellow with the Senate Appropriations Committee and served as a congressional liaison within the ICE Office of Congressional Relations.

Mr. Edge is a 25-year law enforcement veteran who began his career as an investigator in the Essex County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey. He has held numerous leadership positions on state, local and federal law enforcement task forces and has extensive experience conducting narcotics, money laundering, and commercial fraud and corruption investigations.

HSI Divisions

To accomplish its mission, HSI is organized into the following divisions:

Information Management oversees initiatives that combine information sharing and technology across the Department of Homeland Security. It also oversees technical and business-related activities carried out by HSI (read more)

HSI Field Offices

HSI – Historic Origins

Homeland Security Investigations' (HSI) story begins in 1789 when Congress established the U.S. Customs Service and in 1891 with the creation of the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration under the Treasury Department.

Customs houses were used as administrative headquarters at ports of entry around the country. Customs officials inspected, taxed, stamped and released imported goods. The agency also stopped banned items from entering the country. Officials used ships, called cutters, to stop ships bearing cargo at sea and to prevent smugglers from bringing items ashore. The list of barred items changed over time, but included undeclared liquor, tobacco, firearms, drugs, stolen property and certain foods. The 1976 Arms Export Control Act gave Customs the additional authority to investigate and prevent international weapons trafficking.

The Immigration Act of 1891 made immigration a federal function. Immigration inspectors at various ports of entry inspected passenger manifests, conducted health inspections and accepted or rejected immigrants. In 1906, Congress passed the Basic Naturalization Act, which framed the rules for naturalization within the United States. The law established standard naturalization forms and encouraged state and local courts to relinquish their naturalization jurisdiction to federal courts.

In 1933, Congress established the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 expanded INS’ responsibilities by allowing it to investigative certain gang, fraud and human smuggling activities, and enforce sanctions against employers who hired undocumented aliens. Additionally, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 enabled the hiring of additional INS special agents for interior enforcement and bolstered certain criminal penalties, including those for alien smuggling.

On Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists on board American Airlines Flight 11 intentionally crashed the plane into the World Trade Center's North Tower. The tower was home to the U.S. Customs House at 6 World Trade Center.

After the events of 9/11, the government created a stronger approach to national security with the passage of the Homeland Security Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The department was formed by combining 22 different federal organizations into a unified force.

In 2003, Customs and INS were merged into the department’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In 2010, HSI was formed within ICE from elements of ICE’s previous Offices of Investigations, Intelligence and International Affairs.